


starlight and star-crossed

by ghostangel



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Gift Exchange, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28147368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostangel/pseuds/ghostangel
Summary: Their mother was one of the few people Sokka had met in his life that still believed in soulmates. She used to say that the mark covering half of his face was a soulmate one, which meant that the person he was destined to love would have an identical one. It was an ugly thing — his mark — or that's what most people seemed to believe. Sokka, on the other hand, loved this birthmark of his the way he loved himself: with hesitation and uncertainty — but it was love, still.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 70





	starlight and star-crossed

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the [ATLA secret santa](https://atla-secret-santa.tumblr.com/) and is a gift to [@brightxyes-art](https://brightxyes-art.tumblr.com/%22)❤ I really really hope you like it!

Their mother was one of the few people Sokka had met in his life who still believed in soulmates. She used to say that the mark covering half of his face was a soulmate one, which meant that the person he was destined to love would have an identical one. It was an ugly thing — his mark — or that's what most people seemed to believe. Sokka, on the other hand, loved it the way he loved himself: with hesitation and uncertainty — but it was love, still.

Sokka used to consider himself lucky to have such an obvious birthmark. It meant that there was no way he wouldn't recognise his soulmate right away. But, he soon realized that most people didn't even believe in soulmates. The war had taken so many and most have started to believe the order of the universe had been disrupted. The stories about soulmates and their marks become fewer and fewer and by the time Sokka turned fifteen, they had morphed into just fairytales and bedtime stories for the kids.

But he never stopped believing in them. Maybe it was because these stories were one of the last things tying him to his mother, but he really felt like his soulmate was somewhere out there, waiting for him.

Then, Aang came to their life and Sokka almost forgot about it all. He had a new purpose, a new cause to fight for, something bigger than him and his life. But, as it usually happens with things like that, you can't ignore them for long — the time comes when the smallest of incidents will remind you what you wanted to forget and you won't be able to get it out of your head ever again.

When Katara was seven, she got injured in a fire nation raid. She was running, trying to find Sokka, when a soldier attacked her. He was holding a chain and he managed to wrap it around her ankle. The iron burned her skin and left a mark there, before their father saw it and saved her. Now, it was the first time they had gone swimming with Aang, and Sokka was seeing exactly the same marks on his ankle.

The thing is, everyone believed soulmate marks are something you are born with — something _both people_ are born with. There was no way this was a coincidence. Sokka couldn't stop thinking about it. If soulmate birthmarks can also be injuries, then maybe he had already met his soulmate, but before they got injured like that.

He wanted to talk to Aang about it, ask him if he knew anything about how everything worked, since he grew up in another time and also he was in touch with the spirit world. Something always stopped him, though. It was yet another thing he stored on the back of his mind to think for another day.

The first time Sokka saw the Blue Spirit he froze — although back then he didn't know their name yet. For a moment, the mask reminded him of the way the warriors back home used to paint their faces — and if Sokka wasn't too busy thinking about that, he would have noticed the Blue Spirit had frozen too. Soon, though, he realized that this mask had nothing to do with their symbols. It appeared way more twisted and angry.

Aang was there too — safe and in one piece. Sokka knew he should be feeling relieved, but there was _something_ about the person standing in front of him, the one wearing that twisted mask, that made his hair stand out on the back of his neck.

Before he could speak, though, the Blue Spirit was gone. They simply ran away, the trees and the darkness swallowing their figure. Sokka briefly thought of running after them, but that didn't make sense. Aang was more important. So he stayed. He stayed with Aang and Katara, but the image of this mask never left his mind.

The second time Sokka saw the Blue Spirit, he almost punched them. It was still dark when he felt a hand cover his mouth and his eyes opened wide. There was no moon and he could barely make out the shape of someone hovering over him.

"I just want to talk." It wasn't a voice Sokka recognised, although it sounded like the voice of a boy. Instead of his sleeping bag, he fumbled for his boomerang, trying not to alert his attacker. "I'm-" the person started, but something seemed to stop them. "I'm the Blue Spirit," he finally said.

For a second Sokka almost felt relieved. But then again, he had no idea who the Blue Spirit actually was or what he wanted — he didn't know if he was dangerous or not and in situations like that, Sokka believed it was safer to assume the former.

He felt the cold metal of his boomerang and his fingers wrapped around it. Sokka relaxed his body and nodded at the person. He couldn't do much lying inside a sleeping bag like this, he needed more space. The Blue Spirit slowly removed his hand from over Sokka's mouth and took a step back. It didn't really look like he wanted to hurt them — if he did, wouldn't he have attacked Aang first and wouldn't he have done it already? They were all obviously sleeping, the perfect moment to strike.

It didn't make sense, but Sokka couldn't just blindly trust a stranger just because he once happened to save his best friend. He slowly got out of his sleeping bag and with a swift movement he threw his boomerang straight at the Blue Spirit. To his great surprise, however, the boy avoided it. He quickly jumped to his feet and his stance changed to that of someone ready to fight. He reached behind his back and two twin swords appeared.

The almost-black deep-blue of the sky was turning lighter and Sokka could now see the terrifying mask covering the Blue Spirit's face. But when he spoke, his voice was weak, breathy, hurried, the voice of someone panicking more and more with each passing second.

"Wait, I don't want to hurt you!" he said.

Sokka heard someone moving behind him. "What's happening?" came Katara's sleepy voice.

"Not sure," Sokka replied, not taking his eyes off the Blue Spirit.

"I just want to talk, I mean it!" the boy in front of him tried again.

"Do you usually talk with swords?" Katara asked. Sokka heard the rumble of water and two thin lines of it passed next to him and wrapped around the Blue Spirits wrists. "Drop them," she said.

"Okay, okay, I'm doing it," the Blue Spirit said, lowering his hands to the ground.

Sokka heard another set of footsteps. "What's all this noise?" Aang asked and then, "Oh, what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to talk to Sokka, okay?"

"Why?" Katara asked.

"How do you even know me? Who are you?"

The Blue Spirit remained silent. There was the rumble of water again and a third line moved towards the Spirit's face this time — or rather his mask.

The boy stumbled backwards, trying to avoid it. "No, don't!" he said. He ducked and ran and tried not to let the water touch his mask. Sokka felt almost sorry for him. And then he stumbled and fell, and as the thin line of water formed into a hand with slender fingers that gripped the side of his mask, a sudden flare, that left Sokka with black spots in his vision, shot out of the Spirit's hands.

_Fire_.

Before he could even think about what he was doing, Sokka's fight or flight instinct was activated and he threw his boomerang once again. _The Blue Sprit was a firebender_.

This time, the boy was too busy battling the water and the boomerang hit him right on the side of his head. He fell and when he looked at them again, his mask was lying half broken next to him. Sokka had barely enough time to register the mark covering almost half of the boy's face before Aang said, "Zuko?"

The thing was, none of them, save Aang, had seen Zuko before. They have heard of him and there always were people shouting his name on raids, but they have never actually _seen_ his face.

The boy — _Zuko?_ — looked at them with wide eyes, avoiding Sokka's gaze. Katara attacked him, but water wasn't of any use against fire.

"Katara, wait!" Aang said, but she didn't, she couldn't. The attacks kept coming as Sokka remained frozen, his eyes stuck on Zuko's mark, that didn't look like a birthmark at all, but like an injury, a bad burn, same as the marks on Katara's ankle.

That was a fact, and it was the only fact his brain could process at that moment. Not even process, really — he was more like repeating it again and again to himself, as if it would magically make sense.

Zuko, on the other hand, wouldn't stop moving, avoiding attacks and firing back. He was slowly moving away, too, taking a few steps back every time the water got near him. Then, Katara stopped, for only a second, to catch her breath, and he ran, fast, vanishing in between the trees. Katara almost ran after him, but Aang stopped her.

She turned to him, her eyes wild. "What?" she asked.

Sokka didn't stick around any longer to hear them fight. He started walking. He desperately needed to be alone, to think. He walked and walked and the sun was out when he stopped. There was _no way_ Zuko was his soulmate.

They didn't see Zuko again for a long time. They found Toph, though, and she joined their group. Sokka had almost started to forget this whole soulmate story. _Almost_. The next time they saw Zuko, he was with his sister and they fought. He didn't look anything like the Blue Spirit. That was when Sokka realized that he had momentarily forgotten about who their real enemy was. He made a promise to himself that he'd never let himself forget, ever again. Zuko might have been his soulmate, but he was also a firebender, and not just any firebender — he was the Firelord's son and his goal in life was to kill them.

But when Sokka and Toph were alone, she kept mentioning how Zuko's heart beat faster when he was around him. Sokka told her it was just because he was fighting and Toph didn't push it. Everyone's heart beats faster when they are fighting, right?

Days passed, weeks, months. Sokka was too busy planning, trying to find the right moment to strike, to win and end this war one and for all. Aang was getting worse. He didn't sleep and he still didn't know how to firebend. They were on the Western Air Temple when Zuko came to them. Everyone tried to attack him immediately, but Aang took him away to talk. Sokka stayed hidden behind a pillar.

Zuko left again. Aang seemed sad and Sokka felt a weight settle upon his heart. He should have talked to him, he should have said something. He realized he needed to know, he wanted to. He was suspicious of Zuko, he didn't trust him, but at the same time, he was dying to know the truth.

The Combustion Man attacked the next day. They weren't ready, _they weren't ready._ Aang was hit by a collapsing pillar and Sokka almost fell down the cliff when Zuko appeared. He attacked the Combustion Man with fire and Sokka caught himself holding his breath. There were explosions and dust in the air and his eyes started hurting. He closed them for only a second — it really was just a second — and then everything was over. A big part of the cliff was destroyed and Zuko was nowhere to be seen. Sokka felt his heart stop and he cursed himself for it. But then Toph said something and she ran straight towards the edge of the Temple. For a moment, he thought she was going to jump, but instead, she kneeled down and reached past the edge. Aang must have realized what she was trying to do because he quickly followed her and together they started pulling. Soon, Zuko appeared. They pulled him on the Temple and all three of them collapsed, breathing hard. Blood was running down Zuko's face and his shirt was torn.

Sokka couldn't move. He didn't know what to do with his legs and hands anymore. It was almost like they didn't belong to him, almost as if this was the first time he was seeing them. Most people went to help Aang, Toph and Zuko. Katara did too, but Sokka didn't miss how she narrowed her eyes at Zuko. His eyes were closed now. They carried him somewhere else to treat his wounds and let him rest. He has _saved_ them.

Sokka went to him at night, after he was sure everyone else had fallen asleep. They had put him into one of the temples, one they used as a makeshift hospital. Zuko seemed to be in pain when Sokka found him. He was rolling over on his bed, almost as if he was fighting with it. He had one hand over his burn and another one on his hair, pulling them. His eyes were tightly shut and sweat was running down his forehead. He was having a nightmare, Sokka realized.

He kneeled next to him. "Zuko?" Sokka said, his voice slow and hesitant, but it seemed like that was enough to pull him out of his nightmare.

For a moment, Zuko looked around, his eyes wide. He looked lost. Then, his eyes settled on Sokka and he slowly pulled himself up. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I wanted to see your mark from up close," Sokka said, because he wasn't the type of person to circle around the truth.

Zuko remained silent for a while and then he asked, "And now that you see it, what do you think?"

"It's the same as mine," Sokka whispered. Maybe that wasn't something he planned on saying out loud, but it didn't matter anyway. Zuko could see that too.

He slowly raised his hand and for a second it hovered in front of Zuko's face. He didn't flinch or back away so Sokka took that as a silent permission. Zuko's skin felt soft under his fingertips, softer than normal skin feels like.

"I think you are my soulmate," he blurted out before he could stop himself.

Zuko's eyes widened for a moment. Then, he looked away. "I guess that'd make sense," he answered.

"Why did you save us?" Sokka asked, taking his hand away from the boy's face.

"I'm not as evil as you think," Zuko replied, a certain kind of bitterness sipping through his words.

"How do I know that?" Sokka asked again.

Zuko scoffed. "You don't deserve an evil soulmate," he said, and Sokka wasn't sure if that meant _therefore I'm not evil_ or _therefore_ _you don't deserve me_.

There was silence and then, "This is pretty weird."

Sokka laughed. "Yeah, it is." His eyes briefly travelled towards the door and then back at Zuko. "So, how did you get that burn?" he asked.

Zuko avoided his eyes. "My father," he said.

"You have to be kidding me." Sure, Sokka knew Firelord Ozai was evil, but would he really do something like this to his own son?

A dry laugh escaped Zuko. "Wish I was."

Sokka bit his lip. "Was that- was that what your nightmare was about?" he dared to ask.

Zuko didn't answer.

"I can sleep here if you want," Sokka said, and then quickly added, "Like, you know, we could talk — or not — just so you aren't alone and you don't have to sleep — unless you want to." He mentally slapped himself for that.

He was expecting Zuko to turn him down, but instead, he said, "That would be okay."

So he did stay with him that night and it felt like the most surreal thing he had ever done. They talked a bit more, about Zuko's father, about his burn, about him saving them. When the sun came out again, Zuko was sleeping soundly next to him. He almost looked peaceful. That image made Sokka feel all sorts of things he didn't understand. Just before he, too, fell asleep a thought came to his mind: maybe having Zuko as his soulmate wasn't the end of the world after all. Maybe it wasn't all that bad in the end — not bad at all.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://heartsofsunlight.tumblr.com/)❤


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